Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged BORIS The Crusher

Brewed by Hoppin Frog
Style: Imperial Stout
Akron, Ohio USA

Served from a 22 oz bottle, batch 1, from tendermorsel on BA. Appearance is a rich and velvety ruby edged black with some small bubbles and almost no head. Aromas are full of strong whiskey, roasted malt notes, and a touch of barrel smoke. The flavors are vanilla spiked whiskey with strong cherry notes, coconut. Mouth is wonderfully smooth and full bodied, alcohol is fairly well hidden. A spectacular brew!

Batch 1!!! Unending thanks to danielcurtis81 on his wedding week. Pours oily pitch black with thin dark tan layer of head. Aroma is mostly strong barrel and coffee with chocolate and molasses and other teasers, very, very enticing. Taste is more of the same amazingness: vanilla bourbon barrel, bitter-sweet chocolate, sugar cookie, dark roasted malt, SO smooth and SO creamy with a slight alcohol component that compliments that weight of this beer perfectly. What a dream come true! This is a phenomenal beer.

I was really excited to try this, and while it wasn’t bad, it didn’t really come close to meeting my high expectations. Compared to some of the other highly rated RIS’s out there, I didn’t really feel it stacked up all that well. It is very black and syrupy, but the aroma and flavor didn’t deliver nearly as much flavor as I expected. This beer is nowhere as roasty as a Speedway Stout, and isn’t 1/10th as bourbon-y as say a Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Aroma was quite faint, and mouthfeel was frankly quite thin, particularly for a beer that looked a little syrupy coming out of the bottle. Flavor was pretty good, but fainter than I thought it would be - roasty, bourbon-y, some dried fruit notes (and quite a bit of booziness), but not to the degree of intensity that they hype surrounding this beer would lead me to believe. This wasn’t a bad beer by any stretch, but it didn’t really meet my expectations. Of those RIS’s that are big, expensive, and somewhat hard to get, I think this one is a bit over-hyped. Like I said, not bad, but definitely not belonging in the elite category or beers of this style.

Bottled. Pitch black coloured. Dense brown head. Aroma is roasted, sweet, chocolaty, spiced and some vague boubon vanilla notes. Chocolate, toffee, fruits, vanilla, wood, roasty, light coffee in the flavour. Very smooth and easy to drink. Full flavoured. Ends on a mild roasty, sweet and spiced note. alcohol is very well hidden. Bottled. Dark amber coloured. Unclear. Light brown head. Aroma of sourness, fruits, berries, light yeast. Flavour is sour and citric. Loads of berries, light yeast. Medium to full bodied. Dry. Very sour and refreshing end. Quite grapish. Nice. Maybe not very polite to drink this right after the Mikkeller Weasel Islay version, but anyways it´s quite good.

22oz bottle thanks to goryshkewych. Pours a pure black color with a medium beige head after some effort. A light aroma of vanilla, roasted malts, bourbon and something akin to banana. A rich flavor of cocoa infused roasted malts, light fruit, bourbon barrel goodness and warmth in the finish. The finish so good; it washes barrel and sweet bourbon over your palate somehow gently. A medium thickness to the mouthfeel, very slick and oily- and wonderful. Very drinkable despite the ABV. Very good. Just a perfect usage of the bourbon barrel.

Bottle with ample gracias to MrBunn. Pours balck with minimal, fast disappearing tan head. Aroma is mild, some malt, roast, typical impy nose. The flavor, however, is world class. Initially anise, cherries, plums, vanilla, coffee, roasted malts, chocolate, bourbon/whiskey, and lighlty roasting wood chips. I have a highly untrained palate relative to most experienced beer raters, and it’s fully under assault by this brew. Excellent ABV burn as it goes down. This is a big brew, of course, but it is balanced enough to pull its punch until the very end. And even then, it uses soft gloves. Wonderful stuff.

22oz bottle (Courtesy of BeerandBlues2 at RSRIZZO’s tasting) 8/9/09-Pours black with a little head. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla, and oak. Taste was the same with some cherry undertones. This full bodied brew KICKS ASS.

Thick black pour with mocha brown pour. Bourbon aroma, roasted malt, coffee. Taste is vanilla, coffee, roasted malt, bourbon. From my notes and memory, this seems thinner than the reg. B.O.R.I.S. Nonetheless, it is a very tasty beer. Nice aftertaste- it really sticks around. Lacing on the glass. Worth $18 a bottle.